NEUQUA VALLEY MEN'S CROSS COUNTRYTRACK & FIELD

Runners are control freaks. They carefully curate their playlists, fussily perform their stretching routine, and triple knot their laces. Throughout the week, they arrange their schedule to optimize their workouts, minimize their wastefulness, and chain tasks together with a dancer’s economy. So naturally the Running Gods must intervene to remind us that we actually control very little. You don’t control the fact that the person who touched the doorknob before you suffers from a highly contagious cold. You don’t control the traffic, the humidity, the amount of rain that soaks the field. When you look at the teammate boxed beside you before the gun, you remember that it’s not up to you how he handles the race.​That lack of control is exacerbated in a race with more than 50 teams and over 500 athletes. Some of the programs are old friends—Sandburg and York, for instance; others are welcome strangers. But the silence before ignition is one of the most intense moments in all of sports. Almost anything can happen.

So it is with relief and gratitude that we received the same results as our previous invite. Led by Captain Josh Mollway (14:59) and fellow seniors Jackson Jett (15:02) and Jake McEneaney (15:04), the Varsity team ran a smart and patient race on a sticky, swampy course. Zach Kinne (15:12) added to his impressive resume of Detweiller performances, and Matt “Mongoose” Milostan (15:21) found his way back into the fun after missing Hornet/Red Devil. Once again, seventh man Jeremy Hayhurst (15:40) ran a race worthy of his amazing haircut, and juniors Ryan Kennedy (15:32), Tyler Bombacino (16:05), and Alex Johnson (16:13) ran the disciplined, professional races that typify the Class of 2018. While we are proud of the results, we know there are miles to go—all week, we’ve battled viruses, mental hiccups, and the vague aches and pains of hard September miles. Thus far, this whole season has been a conversation about resiliency.

One of team experts on that subject is Chris Keeley, who made his triumphant return to racing in the Freshman/Sophomore race. Bedeviled by injuries since Track season, Chris has fought through stress fractures, stress reactions, and deep bruises to work his way back into the lineup. Flanked by freshman phenom Rodrigo Alvarez (16:12), Keeley gutted out a tough 16:35. He was trailed by the fully-shoed Matt Jett (16:42), the always-game Michael Madiol (16:43), and the suddenly clutch Michael O’Connor (16:57). Nick Drechsler (17:05) had an uncharacteristically middling race, but was present enough to be the tie-breaker against a hard-charging Naperville North, scoring the Freshman/Sophomore team their first team championship of the season. Spencer Teske (17:08), Jack Orengo (17:59), Daniel Conway (18:21), and Quinn Kennedy (18:22) rounded out the stat sheet. The sophomores have yet to put together a race commensurate with their workouts, but returning Keeley and Madiol to the fold will bring them closer to their potential.

By the time the Open Race got underway, the sun had assumed a pitiless position, and shade was at a premium. A spike-flattened course ran slow and steamy, but still yielded some impressive results. Tempo-king Scott Anderson (16:33) led the way, followed swiftly by junior Keanen Ginell, senior Eric Huenecke, and juniors Evan McVittie and Dakota Getty. For many of our runners, this was their introduction to Detweiller, and the odd juxtaposition of Mardi-Gras festivities of the front of the course and the lonely suffering of the trapezoid. Even beset on all sides by pain and doubt and heat exhaustion, our runners drew strength from the hundreds of miles and dozens of workouts stored within their mental vault.

And ultimately, those workouts are the only things in our control. We cannot do anything about other runners, other teams, or the reactions our bodies have to stress and germs.